Suits' Patrick J. Adams: Mike Is Sabotaging Himself

No, it's not the Screen Actors Guild Award nomination he got last year or kudos from co-stars, but rather some, um, high — if mistaken — praise by fans.

"There's a whole contingent of people who actually believed Gabriel [Macht] and I were really stoned in that scene," Adams tells TVGuide.com of the summer finale's Seinfeld-referencing insta-classic. "It's amazing how many people asked me on Twitter if we were really high. That makes me happy since it means we're doing our job well. We're awesome at acting high! When I read the scene, my jaw dropped. I was like, 'Seriously? Are we really doing this?' And we did and it turned out great."

Unfortunately, there will be no high comedy from Harvey (Macht) and Mike (Adams) in the final six episodes of Season 2 (premieres Thursday at 10/9c on USA). But that doesn't mean Mike has curbed his smoking vice. In fact, his downward spiral — getting high, having an affair with Tess (Elisabeth Hower

) — as a result of Grammy's death last summer is close to hitting its nadir in the premiere."I had always known from the beginning of the show that Grammy passing away would be part of the show, but what I hadn't really considered was what the ramifications of that would be," Adams says. "They beautifully handled it and gave me some great scenes in dealing with Rachel [Meghan Markle] and Harvey and that 'I have nobody left in the world. How am I dealing with work?' feeling. He's thrust back into that world he came from, where he's sort of hopeless and has nothing left and is trying to figure out why he's doing this anymore. Grammy was the reason why he was doing this in the first place. It was really fun to play Mike after losing his compass a little bit."So how lost is Mike? He lets his emotions interfere in a drunk-driving case, which stirs up memories of his parents' deaths that get the best of him, and Harvey needs to save his butt again — which he threatens may be the last time. That's not even counting his degree-less secret nearly being outed by Louis' (Rick Hoffman) new associate Maria (Aarti Mann). "Harvey tells him to get his sh-- together, and rightfully so," Adams says. "That's going to come to a head a lot. The firm is under threat and in a weakened state after the Hardman [David Costabile] fiasco. You're going to see a lot of pressure on them toward the end of the six ... after Hardman comes back to sue Pearson Hardman to take it down from the outside. But Harvey and Jessica [Gina Torres] can't just sell Mike down the river because they are responsible for what's happened to him, so they're all kind of tied together and their fates are intertwined."

Things aren't any better outside of work. Mike continues his affair with his married childhood pal Tess and isn't making any headway repairing his relationship with Rachel. While Adams understands fans' frustration with the affair — which, naturally, started just as Rachel was ready to give it another go with him — he believes Mike's increasingly poor decisions is in line with his current headspace."We can all relate to a time in our lives when we sort of sabotage good things, and I think that's the situation. He's sabotaging himself and he can't stop," he says. "I think our biggest obstacle in life is usually ourselves. It's something we can really relate to. It's young people trying to figure out where we fit in the world. The Tess thing is emblematic of that. He's in mourning and is making really bad decisions all over again, going back to old patterns. He's in a very painful place, so it's easy for him to do this."

But fear not, Suitors! Mike Ross is not beyond repair. After Harvey's reprimand and a "very serious wakeup call" related to the affair in the second episode, Mike starts to try to "get his sh-- together." "It's a moment in time where Mike is forced to take a good, hard look at his behavior and what he's done and how it's affecting people," Adams says. "Sometimes it takes something shocking to really open your eyes and this will be one of them for him."Nevertheless, he won't be making much progress with Rachel, who drops a bombshell on him in the first episode. Even though they work together, Rachel can hardly be bothered to be civil with him in the office. "They're not just friends again," Adams says. "I guess there's a need for them to reconcile at some point to work together, but it's definitely not easy. After what Mike pulled with her, it's never going to be that easy. She can't forgive him and I think it might take a while. ... He is learning from it, however slowly or quickly. You're always seeing Mike grow up a bit."But, he adds, "the hits keep coming for Mike. It seems like he's never staying out of trouble for too long."Suits airs Thursdays at 10/9c on USA.